Chiang Kai-shek

Chiang Kai-shek also romanized as Chiang Chieh-shih and known as Chiang Chung cheng was a political and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China.

Chiang – who led the Republic of China between 1928 and 1975 – was an influential member of the Kuomintang (KMT), the Chinese Nationalist Party, as well as a close ally of Sun Yat-sen’s.

Chiang became the Commandant of the Kuomintang’s Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun’s place as leader of the KMT following the Canton Coup in early 1926. Having neutralized the party’s left wing, Chiang then led Sun’s long-postponed Northern Expedition, conquering or reaching accommodations with China’s many warlords.